Manchester United v Barcelona: Control of the ball key to Champions League glory

Manchester United have scored only once in their last seven Champions League
matches against Spanish opposition and, bar an opening 10-minute spell at
the Olympic Stadium when Barcelona were slow out of the blocks, they rarely
looked like doing so again.

The stats show United had nine shots on goal, just two less than Barcelona, but whereas the Spaniards looked threatening whenever they had control of the ball, United by contrast seemed bereft of ideas and limp in attack, even when Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov were all on the pitch together.

When United were 1-0 down with 20 minutes to go, the commentators on both Sky and ITV reminded viewers of 1999 and the remarkable comeback against Bayern Munich that enabled Sir Alex Ferguson tro lift his first Champions League trophy.

But despite Barca fielding a weakened defence, missing the likes of Rafael Marquez, Dani Alves and Eric Abidal, United's much-vaunted strike force could not find a way past a back line consisting of Carlos Puyol, Gerard Pique, Yaya Toure and Sylvinho, nor did they look like doing so.

Another notable concern for Ferguson, as he analyses where it all went wrong, is the percentage of shots on target United had. They may have had nine pops at goal but when only 22.2 per cent of them are actually heading between the sticks, the chances of the ball finding the net are slim indeed.

Compare this to Barca's 63.6 per cent and you begin to see why Wayne Rooney said the 2-0 scoreline did not flatter Pep Guardiola's men.

Both teams have talent in abundance and both had their trump cards on show - Barca, Lionel Messi, United, Ronaldo.

But while the Argentine hassled, harried and tormented the United midfield and defence with his jinking runs and ability to find space and time on the ball when there appeared to be none, Ronaldo faded badly, frustrated by the close attention of his Catalan markers.

Messi enjoyed 84 touches of the ball, with a 95 per cent pass completion rate. Ronaldo, on the other hand, saw the ball only 43 times, and most of those were in the opening 10 minutes.

With their talisman shackled, United were neutered, allowing Messi free reign to all but stamp his name on the Ballon d'Or.